BY ALBERT CARNESALE

Lew Wasserman was that rare and wonderful combination of vitality, generosity and vision that made anyone who knew him feel honored by the association. With his passing on June 3, it is appropriate to reflect on the many ways he touched and forever changed UCLA. Few people of such extraordinary achievement have also directed their energies so fruitfully to the advancement of humankind. Lew Wasserman was one of education's greatest advocates, and one of UCLA's truest friends.

Best known as president and chairman of MCA, Inc., Lew Wasserman built and oversaw a vast media and communications empire. He influenced national and international politics on every level, and was friend and trusted adviser to every president since Harry Truman. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor, among myriad other accolades.

UCLA was equally fortunate to have benefited from his insight and energy. Lew was a guiding force and a respected adviser to many of us on campus. His relationship to the university began decades ago, when his long association with Jules Stein and a deep concern for vision sciences led him to become a founding trustee of the Jules Stein Eye Institute. He and his wife, Edie, endowed a faculty chair in ophthalmology, and the new Edie and Lew Wasserman Eye Research Center, to be constructed at Stein Plaza, will soon propel the field of vision science in new and exciting directions. The scope of Edie and Lew's concern for education is no less impressive. Through their scholarship support, they have made it possible for more than 100 graduate and undergraduate students across disciplines to attend UCLA each year.

Lew was a magnanimous donor and a volunteer who was always willing to roll up his sleeves to meet a challenge, and he inspired friends from every arena of his life to do the same. In 1995, he was among the first to push for an original Campaign UCLA goal of $1.2 billion, the largest ever established by a public university at the time. Until his passing at the age of 89, he continued to serve on the Campaign Cabinet, where his guiding hand and spirit helped build the most successful public-university campaign in history.

UCLA will forever bear the imprint of this great philanthropist and humanitarian. His legacy will reverberate for countless generations of Bruins, for the Los Angeles community and for the nation. How fortunate we have been to have him as a member of the UCLA family.

He will be long remembered, and sorely missed.

Carnesale is chancellor of UCLA.